Abstract
In this work, a preliminary numerical assessment on the application of an additive manufactured hybrid metal/composite shock absorber panels to a military seat ejection system, has been carried out. The innovative character of the shock absorber concept investigated is that the absorbing system has a thickness of only 6 mm and is composed of a pyramid-shaped lattice core that, due to its small size, can only be achieved by additive manufacturing. The mechanical behaviour of these shock absorber panels has been examined by measuring their ability to absorb and dissipate the energy generated during the ejection phase into plastic deformations, thus reducing the loads acting on pilots. In this paper the effectiveness of a system composed of five hybrid shock absorbers, with very thin thickness in order to be easily integrated between the seat and the aircraft floor, has been numerically studied by assessing their ability to absorb the energy generated during the primary ejection phase. To accomplish this, a numerical simulation of the explosion has been performed and the energy absorbed by the shock-absorbing mechanism has been assessed. The performed analysis demonstrated that the panels can absorb more than 60% of the energy generated during the explosion event while increasing the total mass of the pilot-seat system by just 0.8%.
Highlights
Introduction1917s and was carried out by Hug DeHaven, an American pilot, engineer and aviation safety pioneer [3,4]
The technical term “Crashworthiness” exactly describes the capability of a structure to protect its occupants during an impact event [1,2].In aeronautics, the first research work on aircraft crashworthiness dates back to the1917s and was carried out by Hug DeHaven, an American pilot, engineer and aviation safety pioneer [3,4]
He was the only survivor of four passengers in a plane crash and was convinced that the reason for his survival was related to the moderate deformations occurred in specific plane areas. This led DeHaven to study the dynamics of air and road accidents and realised that in some of them it was possible to improve the chances of survival by using “shock absorber systems”
Summary
1917s and was carried out by Hug DeHaven, an American pilot, engineer and aviation safety pioneer [3,4] He was the only survivor of four passengers in a plane crash and was convinced that the reason for his survival was related to the moderate deformations occurred in specific plane areas. In 1950, the US Army began a research project based on the analysis of aircraft crashes and passenger injuries, publishing in 1967 the Aircraft Crash Survival Design Guide a guideline for the ‘safe design’ of shock-absorbing structures [5,6,7,8,9]. This volume [5,6,7,8,9] of the Aircraft Crash Survival Design Guide discusses the following topics: [5] Volume I—Design Criteria and Checklists, [6] Volume II—Aircraft
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